Standing on microplates to cue midfoot position?

[Batbat]

I remember reading an article a while back about putting small diameter microplates under your midfoot (not heels) to cue the correct midfoot position while squatting. The idea was that if your heels or toes end up touching the ground, your weight isn't balanced on the midfoot, because your feet should be evenly over the plates if they are. Is this a good idea? Does anyone else remember reading this article and know where I can find it? Again, this has nothing to do with weight under the heels for elevation similar to lifting shoes.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Sounds kinda stupid to me.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

I have occasionally put microplates under the toes of hard cases who simply refuse not to rock onto their toes. Rare perverted individuals (all men in their late 70s or early 80s, as I think on it) who will squat otherwise perfectly, get to the bottom in a good position with the bar in the slot, and then rock forward onto their toes for god-knows-what reason. Like there's some funky Cold-War era wiring that tells them they have to push off the ball of their foot. Usually you can fix this with the standard cues and some vague threats, but on a very few occasions when nothing else worked I have used the microplate-under-the-forefoot thing out of desperation, and it worked.

Under the midfoot, though? Yeah, that sounds kinda dumb.

[mpalios]

I have this issue...... And I am 45, and I am not even squatting that much weight........

Poor Pete T.

I have occasionally put microplates under the toes of hard cases who simply refuse not to rock onto their toes. Rare perverted individuals (all men in their late 70s or early 80s, as I think on it) who will squat otherwise perfectly, get to the bottom in a good position with the bar in the slot, and then rock forward onto their toes for god-knows-what reason. Like there's some funky Cold-War era wiring that tells them they have to push off the ball of their foot. Usually you can fix this with the standard cues and some vague threats, but on a very few occasions when nothing else worked I have used the microplate-under-the-forefoot thing out of desperation, and it worked.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I have occasionally put microplates under the toes of hard cases who simply refuse not to rock onto their toes. Rare perverted individuals (all men in their late 70s or early 80s, as I think on it) who will squat otherwise perfectly, get to the bottom in a good position with the bar in the slot, and then rock forward onto their toes for god-knows-what reason. Like there's some funky Cold-War era wiring that tells them they have to push off the ball of their foot. Usually you can fix this with the standard cues and some vague threats, but on a very few occasions when nothing else worked I have used the microplate-under-the-forefoot thing out of desperation, and it worked.

Under the midfoot, though? Yeah, that sounds kinda dumb.

No doubt they were influenced by old Weider courses that showed bodybuilders in posing shorts doing squats on the balls of their feet. As I recall, Hoffman had a few old photos like that too.

Old dogs, new tricks.

[jfsully]

Rare perverted individuals (all men in their late 70s or early 80s, as I think on it) who will squat otherwise perfectly, get to the bottom in a good position with the bar in the slot, and then rock forward onto their toes for god-knows-what reason.

Dirty old men gotta stay on their toes?

[Frank_B]

I have this issue...... And I am 45, and I am not even squatting that much weight........

Poor Pete T.

I’m 38 and I do the same thing. Poor Pete T has straightened me out for the most part but I’m sure he still beats his head against the wall from time to time when I submit a video to him.

You have long femurs too, by any chance mpalios? I always just assumed this is a nasty byproduct of long femurs. I don’t know if that’s accurate or not, but I feel like it’s an attempt to elevate the heels in order to get just a bit more depth in the bottom.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Dirty old men gotta stay on their toes?

I guess so. I just turned sixty, so I'll check in after my next squat workout and let you know.

[Elle]

You have long femurs too, by any chance mpalios? I always just assumed this is a nasty byproduct of long femurs. I don’t know if that’s accurate or not, but I feel like it’s an attempt to elevate the heels in order to get just a bit more depth in the bottom.

I'm a young female and have this problem. I also have long femurs. I think it has more to do with leading with my hips out of the bottom causing me to lose balance forward - which I've heard can be a posterior chain dominant / long femur thing.

My coach has had me to try to keep my toes lifted off the ground the entire lift (squat/deadlift) to try to fix it. Not that that's the right form or that you should do it every time, but if I do it on my first warmup set it's a good reminder.

It got better on squat when I got new squat shoes (1" heel). But they made my deadlift tip toe problem worse. So now I switch to flats for deadlift.

[Frank_B]

I'm a young female and have this problem. I also have long femurs. I think it has more to do with leading with my hips out of the bottom causing me to lose balance forward - which I've heard can be a posterior chain dominant / long femur thing.

My coach has had me to try to keep my toes lifted off the ground the entire lift (squat/deadlift) to try to fix it. Not that that's the right form or that you should do it every time, but if I do it on my first warmup set it's a good reminder.

It got better on squat when I got new squat shoes (1" heel). But they made my deadlift tip toe problem worse. So now I switch to flats for deadlift.

Elle,

Do you have shoulder mobility issues? I know sometimes if the bar isn’t placed low enough that this can happen. Early on in my NLP my shoulders were pretty tight and I was having this issue. I saw a coaching video a while back explaining this. Once my shoulders loosened up, that pry got better.

Interesting feedback on the high heels affecting your deadlift toe problem. I have the same issue. I think my shoes are 3/4”. I may switch to flats and give it a go.